Recourse

Started by DejaH • 11 replies • 1460 views

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DejaH (Virginia)
Posts: 3

Posted:

I live in Virginia and the HOA has placed an assessment lien on my house for unpaid assessements. Can future assessments be placed within the lien? Also it states that it was filed on May 3. I wasn't notified of the notice of intent until May 24. How can it be filed on May 3 and I wasn't sent the notice of intent until May 24. Please advise of my recourse.
thanks

JohnM3 (Florida)
Posts: 288

Posted:

What ever county you live in has a section of the county registry that lists public record look up yours and get the true story first. As to the lien I am sure they sent yu warning notices we send out close to 7 before a home is liened...you cannot ignore these letters from your HOA they do have powers based on what your state decides

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Deja,

You ask what is your recourse. Well, the only thing you should do is to pay your delinquent assessments in full and as soon as possible. In fact, going forward, you should make a point of paying your assessments on time to prevent anything like this from happening again. Because a lien has been filed, your payoff amount will be much higher than just the amount of delinquent assessments. Most likely it will also include attorney's fees and court costs. If you decide not to pay off the lien, the next step in the process would be to file for foreclosure of your property. On the other hand, if you are having financial difficulties and are unable to pay the lien in full, you should meet with the BOD to discuss your situation. The BOD may be receptive to setting up a payment plan for you. In fact you should have had this meeting when you were unable to make the first delinquent assessment.

JohnM3 (Florida)
Posts: 288

Posted:

Bless you Mary as a 21 year vet of being a treas I applaud you from the bottom of my heart
Jack

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Well, thank you Jack! I'm a past treas (of more assn's than I care to remember!) and a former accountant at a CPA firm. But I didn't need those titles to know that you need to pay your bills or suffer the consequences.

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

Quote:

Can future assessments be placed within the lien?

Sure they can. Its possible the HOA can place a new lien every month. Then charge you the legal fees every month for doing it. My advice? Pay it immediately.

DejaH (Virginia)
Posts: 3

Posted:

They filed before noticing and that in itself is reason to file suit. I'm not trying to not pay but they have to follow protocol

DejaH (Virginia)
Posts: 3

Posted:

The only notice I received was on May 24. I didn't receive any notices prior to that date.

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

File suit? Heh.... go for it. I dont see the point. You will still owe the dues.

JonD1
Posts: 2,350

Posted:

So let me follow this..... you don't pay your common charges....... the assocaition files a lien in an attempt to collect YOUR share of the expenses to operate YOUR property and NOW you want to file a suit..... Is that what I read?

And that makes sense to you?

I must have hit my head cause I don't get it.

So the association is supposed to remove the garbage, mow the lawns, pay the utilities and the other slobs who own pay their fair share but not YOU and YOU now want to ask advice to file suit.

How about paying them what you owe and then you can skip filing a lawsuit to protect yourself from being wronged?

Did you not realize you were not paying? How many months did you fail to pay?

And it's not even April 1st cause this has to be a joke.

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DejaH on 06/25/2010 11:59 AM
The only notice I received was on May 24. I didn't receive any notices prior to that date.

Deja,

You stated earlier you received notice of the lien on 5/24. Didn't you ever receive late notices telling you the assessment was delinquent? Please don't tell me you didn't know that you hadn't paid your assessments. What action do you think should be taken against members who fail to pay their assessment?

MicheleD (Kentucky)
Posts: 4,491

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DejaH on 06/25/2010 11:58 AM
They filed before noticing and that in itself is reason to file suit. I'm not trying to not pay but they have to follow protocol

Yes, my dear, they do. But then, so do you. (Kooky, I know.)

After all, you may have only received one lien notice (that you actually paid attention to), but I'd bet lunch at Churchill Downs that you received at least (or more than) one notice that you were delinquent on your assessments.

I'm really really sorry you're not getting much sympathy here, but you have to appreciate that many of us are current or former board members and we have heard them all (excuses as to why someone "forgot" to pay on time).

Well, maybe not all, but, frankly, yours is pretty generic.

Now you are trying to get all in their face over what appears to be a technicality when it might actually be simply a typo. Or sloppy administration. But it's likely going to end up being seen as a good faith attempt on their part anyway, even if you do try to sue because, (and here's the kicker) you still did not pay on time and you still owe and you obviously knew that you were supposed to pay and you also likely knew that liens were a probable collection step.

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